Karl Tlais

Karl is a strategic business leader with over 25 years building market presence, driving revenue growth and innovation across Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East, and Africa. He is recognized as an industry transformational leader across the Digital Economy, Fintech, Innovation, Partnerships and Venture Capital space, building and developing global and regional businesses and ecosystem partnerships across technology, government, and the private sector. Karl is the Founder of iAdvisory and an advisor to the board of several organizations across the globe pioneering the digital economy and driving innovation. A Dubai Future Fellow, he advises on building a future-ready economy and supporting the Dubai government leadership in designing a future ready economy across key industries. A co-chair of the Capital Club Dubai Transformational Business Leaders committee, he leads Digital Economy, AI, and Fintech initiatives including public policy dialogues across government and industry. On the corporate front, Karl has held key executive leadership roles with several industry leaders. These include establishing and leading the Visa Strategic Partnerships, Fintech, and Ventures group for Central Europe, Middle East, and Africa. Prior to Visa, he led the Microsoft Enterprise Partnership group, across Middle East and Africa; and headed the Cisco Service Provider Cloud and Managed Services business across the Emerging Markets and Asia Pacific region. His background includes over a decade in ANZ and the Asia Pacific region, in various leadership roles, with SingTel Optus, Vodafone Australia and Solution6. An inventor with a co-invented global IP patent at Visa, he leads multiple public-private-partnership initiatives across the digital economy ecosystem, and co-authored a white paper on “Economics and AI in The Metaverse”.